The present invention concerns an artificial ice structure or pad constructed in a frigid environment as a base for drilling, producing and related oilfield operations and, more particularly, a temporary ice pad constructed on a land site.
In areas where nearby mobile sea ice might endanger operations on the ice pad the elevation thereof can be increased to adequate heights above sea level and, if necessary, defensive measures may be adopted to prevent fast ice from riding upon or moving the ice pad. Fast ice, a continuous sheet of ice which forms in the winter in arctic regions, moves at rates of several feet per hour with a seasonal movement of as much as one hundred feet. A silo well bore protection system extends through the ice pad into the underlying ground and houses separable above and below ground well control equipment.